Grease-gun filler.



1.1. mcHARns,'1. GREASE GUN FIvLLER. APPLICATION FILED MAR. l5, 1915.

Patented Aug. 6,1918'.

FIL-:24e

PIE-LE UNETED STATES PATENT OFFCE.

JOHN J. RICHARDS, JR., OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE RANDALL-FAICHNEY COMPANY. INC., OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF M SSACHUSETTS. l

GREASE-GUN FILLER.

Application filed March 15, 1915.

To all ifi/0m it may concern:

Be it known that l, Jou-N J. lufuanos, Jr., a citizen ot the United States, and resident etl Brookline, in the county o'l Norl'olk and State et h/lassachusetts, have invented certain new and use'tul Improvements in Grease-(ihm Fillers, oli' which the Following is a specification.

The present invention relates to an instrument adapted to place a charge o'l: grease in grease guns. The object of the invention is to provide an instrument oit this character' which can be filled by insertion into a mass of grease and then can be inserted endwise in a grease gun and caused to discharge its charge ot grease into the gun, placing the charge in any part o'l the gun desired. Other objects are to provide the filler with m ians for discharging the same, which can be operated by the thumb and fingers ot' one hand; to construct the same in such a way that the piston or other device which is employed to discharge its contents may be readily displaced lfor the purpose ot cleaning; to make the filler with a body and a handle portion oi a single piece oi? sheet metal; and in general to :turiiish a strong, convenient, easily handled and used article et the character indicated, and one which can be made ont of a relatively small amount o'l" inexpensive material with high production economy. In the accoii'ipanying drawings forming a part of this application,

Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating what I now consiifler to be the preferred embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 an elevation o'li the same..

Fig. 3 is an end view as seen Vtrom the lower end of Fig. 2.

Fig. l is a cross section on line ft-fi. o'l Fig. 2. I

Fig. 5 a sectional view of a detail of construction of the iller.

Fig. 6 is a plan ot a detail et construction.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the Iigures.

The filler comprises a body portion c, a handle portion and an ejector c, having an operating handle cl. The body is et.' generally cylindrical form, made as a shell open at one end and at one side and ot a diameter adapting it to pass readily into the interior of any standard grease gun when one ot' the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aufj. 6, 1918.

Serial No. 14,564.

heads oi sucli a gun is removed from the body thereo'i".

The ejector e is a disk which fits the interior o'l the shell like body it in the manner o'l a piston and is preferably made as a complete circle oi which the radius is equal to the internal radius et' the shell ai. This piston disk c is connected to a rod c which passes through a guide orifice in the handle l) and is bent into the forni of a ring or eye to make the hand operating portion or handle (l.

Preferably the body of the filler and its handle Z) are made out of a single piece of sheet metal, the blank from which they are produced being cut with a width sulicient Al'or the purpose and having parallel strips extemling ilrom one end near the opposite edges thereof. The blank is made up into the final shape by beingrolled into tubular :l'orm but not to such an extent that the op posite edges j' and g meet. The width of the blank is somewhat more than the sen1icircumference of the tubular body so that such edges and f/ are separated by distances less than the internal. diameter of the body.

'lhe extensions and o to lorm the handle are placed at such points that ailter the blank has been rolled into its tubular form, these extensions will lie symmetrically on opposite sides ot the axis ol the body. At any desired point in the process ot cutting out the blank each o'li these extensions is termed with a narrow tongue il, at its end, a circular aperture at a distance back :from its end and a semicircular aperture /c still. farther back Yfrom its end. l he straight side ot' the aperture is toward the end of the extension and perpelulicular to the side edges o'i the extension; and the aperture is midway between this straight edge and the base elE the tongue i, or approximatelyso. After the body of the liller has been rolled into tubular form as ing adapted to admit the rod e. The semicircular form of the aperture 73 is provided merely to enable the die by which it is punched out to be me de sufficiently strong. The only essential as to the form of this aperture is that it be wide enough to admit the tongue h of the other handle extension and enable such tongue to be doubled around one edgerof the aperture in a manner sufficiently secure to prevent its being accidentally dislodged. Any form of aperture which will secure these effects may be used.

It will be appreciated that the two handle extensions b and b, being thus constructed and joined, are securely connected together and constitute 4a sufficiently rigid handle adapted to be grasped with suflicient firmness to enable the filler to be plunged into a mass of stiff' grease and to be manipulated as a scoop so as to become filled with the grease. At the same time these handle members form a support and guide for the piston rod e, guiding the movements thereof and preventing the ejector or piston from becoming detached from the body. Moreover the extensions before being bent toward each other are carried far enough outward and apart from each other to provide spaces amply wide on each side of the piston rod to admit a mans finger, whereby two of the fingers of the operators hand may be inserted in the handle while his thumb is placed in the eye Z to permit operation of the ejector by the fingers and thumb of one hand.

The edge Z of the blank between the handle extensions ZJ and is provided with a tongue m, which is bent outwardly, as shown in Fig. l, and may be stiffened by a web n formed by pressing out a portion of the metal between the edges of the tongue and crossing the line on which the tongue is bent. This tongue is provided for a stop to limit the penetration of the filler into a grease gun.

In the handle extensions and b, adj acont to the points whence they spring from the body of the filler, are formed' tongues 0 and o integrally united at one end and pressed inwardly at the other end, the latter end being directed toward the open end of the filler. to engage the edges of the ejector disk and limit the withdrawal of. the latter.

The corners at the open end of the filler body are cut away or notched at 79 and g leaving shoulders about equal in width to the thickness of the disk c` and separated by a distance which is slightly less than the diameter of the filler but greater than the distance between the edges and g. vVhen the ejector disk is brought into the zone of these shoulders it may be slipped past them laterally out of the filler, leaving the entire bodybf the latter open to permit of its being cleaned. At the lower portion of Fig. 1 I

These tongues provide stops adapted show the disk c by dotted lines in the position last described. The rodA e and disk c may be moved from the last named position to the position indicated by dotted lines at the upper portion of Fig. l thus entirely removing said rod and disk from the body portion of the filler.

In using the filler to put a charge of grease in a grease gun, the ejector piston is first withdrawn as far as permitted, and the filler is itself first filled with grease. This may be done by plunging the end of the filler body into a mass of grease and rotating it, to cut out a plug of grease, or in any other way. The filler with .its charge is then inserted into the end of a grease gun from which the head has been removed, until arrested by the tongue m. Then the charge is ejected from the filler. In so ejecting the charge the operator places his first and second fingers in the openings of the handle b at opposite sides of the rod e and the thumb of the same hand in the eye l of the ejector i rod, holding the grease gun in the other hand, and presses on the ejector rod with his thumb. lVhen the plug of grease has been so far ejected as to reach the opposite end of the gun, if long enough to do so, before the plunger reaches its inner limit of movement, the shell of the filler is withdrawn while pressure is maintained on the plunger, and finally the entire filler is withdrawn, leaving the charge of grease in the gun. If one load of the filler is not enough to fill the gun, another and as many more loads may be similarly inserted as may be necessary to ll it.

My filler is enough smaller in external diameter than the interior of the gun for which it is to be used that it permits free escape of the air displaced when it is inserted with itsl charge into the gun; and while the body of the filler remains in the gun, the ejector piston may be moved to propel the charge beyond the end of the filler, in the form of a plug which does not fill the bore of the gun and therefore permits escape of the displaced air, until such plug reaches the farther end of the gun. In this way it is possible to fill the gun completely with grease without entrapping any considerable quantity of air. Vhen grease guns are filled in the ordinary way it has been found impossible to place the grease in the farther end of the gun because pressure applied to a lump of grease to force it into the gun causes the grease to spread and make contact with the walls of the gun and seal the air pocket in the farther end of the gun. It is impossible to lill the barrel of a grease gun completely by ladling grease into one end with the opposite end and sides closed, at least in any reasonable length of time; and as a re sult much annoyance has been caused by the fact that in using the grease gun much air is expelled with the grease, and the gun has had to be filled a number oit times in order to inject an ordinary charge into the machine to be greased. My invention as Will be readily seen enables the first charge o't grease in an empty gun to be placed in the lar end of the gun, because the grease is s0 held that the air can readily escape be'li'ore the charge et grease is expanded into contact with the walls of the gun. Thus the first part ol the charge can be caused to fill the extreme inner end et the gun chamber' and. successive parts oit the charge can be built up toward the open end until the gun is entirely lilled with solid grease and with practically complete absence ol.E air pockets.

l'n construction the filler is strong, rigid, and convenient to handle, while being of inexpensive material and easy to make np. The shell or body oit the material is made from a singlepiece of sheet metal by die work and a simple rolling operation. There is practically no assembling to do, and the device can therefore be made largely by automatic machinery.

W hat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A grease gun .filler comprising' a sheet metal body rolled into tubular torni and having lintegral longitudinal extensions at one end on opposite sides oit the axis ot' such torni, the ends of said extensions being bent toward one another and joined together and provided with a guideway, a piston 'fitting the interior of said torrn, and a piston rod connected to said piston and passing there- 'troni through such gnideway.

A grease gun .liller (':omprising a sheet metal body rolled into tubular t'orin and having longitudinal extensions at one end on opposite sides ot the axis of such form, the ends oil said extensions being bent tovxard and lapped over one another and secured together, their overlapping ends having registering o] enings in the axis ot the torni, a piston rod passing through said openings, anda piston secured to said rod located in and fitting the interior ot said tubu- -lar toria, the said extensions providing linger holds at opposite sides et said rod.

grease gnn filler consisting ot a cylindrieal shell open at one side and end, the ot such side opening being separated by a distance less than the diameter ot said shell. a pnsher litting the interior ot the #hell and beingl retained therein by said edges, and a rod connected to said pusher` the shell having a guide through which said rod passes and by which it is retained, and the corners ot the shell at the open end thereo't' being' cut away sulliciently to permit displzuelnent ot the pusher laterally out ot the shell.

4t. A greaf-:e gun filler comprising a sheet.

metal body rolled into tubular torni and havingl longitudinal extensions at. one end on opposite sidesI ot the axis ol' such torni, the ends o't said extensions being bent toward one another and joined together and provided with a guideway, a piston tilting the. interior et said torni, and a piston rod conneeted to said piston and passing therelroin through such guideway and the bent portions o'l said extensions Ytorming linger holds on each side ot said rod.

5. A grease gun liller comprising a sheet metal body curved into the :torni ot the seg'- inent ol" a cyliinlrical shell including more than a seniic \'liinler` said body having strips extemling Ytrom septiratial points at one end thereof and being bent togethe.l across the axis o'lE the cylinder and overlapped at their ends, such ends having coniplemental locking tongues and apertures and also having alined openings to admit a piston rod, said body having on its end trom which said strips extend, and between the strips, an outturned integral lip, and also having inwardly strnck stop tongues near the points where said strips are joined to the body, a piston disk tilting' the interior ot the body shell, anda rod connected to said disk and passing tln'ough the said alined openings.

t3. A grease. gun filler comprising a sheet metal body curved into the 'torni oit the segment ot a cylindrical shell including more than a semicylinder, said body having strips extending Vtrom separated points at one end thereof and being bent together across the axis o'tl the eylimler and overlapped at their ends, such ends having coniplemental locking tongues and apertures and also having alined openings to admit a piston rod, a piston disk litt ing the interior ot the body shell, and a rod connected to said disk and passing through the said alined openings.

7. A grease gun liller comprising a sheet metal body curved into the torm olf the segmento't a cylilnlrical shell incli'iding more than a seinieylinder, said body having strips extending trom separated points at one end thereo't and being bent together across the axis oi' the c vlinder and overlapped at' their ends, such ends having` complemental locking tonguesI and apertures and also having alined openings to admit a piston rod, said body having inwardly struck stop tongues near the points where said strips are joined to the body, a piston disk fittingl the interior ol the, body shell, and a rod connected to said disk and passing through the said alined openings.

S. A grease gun filler comprising a sheet metal body curved into the torni o't the segment ot a cyliinlrical shell iin-,hiding more than a, semicylinder, said body having strips extending l'rom separated points at one end thereot and being' bent together acroe-'s the axis of the cylinder and overlapped at their neoted to said disk and passing through the ends, such ends having eoinpleinental lock- Said ahned openings. 10 ing' tongues and apei'tuies and also having; In testimony wheieof have affixed my alined openings to adinit a piston rod, said signature in presence of two Witnesses. 5 body having on its end from which said JOHN J. RICHARDS, JR.

Strips extend, and between the strips, an outtnessesz turned integral lip, a piston disk fitting the C. F. BROWN, interior of the body shell, and a rod eon- P. `W. PEzzE'iTI.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patente.

Washington, D. C. 

